Investor’s Business Daily asks “what did Democrats know, and when did they know it?” Today IBD looks at the Democrats’ hypocrisy and sleaziness in trying to use Foley’s sick behavior to their political advantage:
It’s of course clear that Foley, a Republican representative from Florida, resigned for good cause. We don’t defend him or his inexcusable behavior — good riddance.
But it didn’t take long at all after Foley’s resignation for the Democrats to call for an investigation of the entire Republican leadership in the House, charging that GOP stalwarts knew early on that Foley, as they like to say in the rehab business, had a “problem.”
Democrats have begun losing their once-significant lead in the polls, and a mere five weeks remain until the midterm elections. Is this scandal the Democrats’ own “October Surprise,” meant to throw the GOP into a tailspin shortly before the vote?
Recent polls show Democrats aren’t doing very well on several key issues. What better way than a good, old-fashioned sex scandal to get people’s minds off such things as the importance of winning the war in Iraq, our ongoing vulnerability to terrorist attack and the necessity of keeping the Bush economic boom going?
As it is, Republicans deny knowing about the explicit text messages that Foley sent to a 16-year-old congressional page back in 2003. In repudiating Foley, House Speaker Dennis Hastert called the messages “vile and repulsive.”
Despite this, the immediate take by Democrats and much of the mainstream media was that this was a classic example of Republican hypocrisy — talking “morals” and “values” while all the time shielding a child predator. But it was nothing of the kind.
If anything, the episode reveals the Democrats’ hypocrisy about their own behavior. The fact that Foley resigned virtually within minutes of being told that ABC News had copies of his salacious e-mails and text messages indicates he at least felt shame for his actions. Can the same be said for Democrats?
Sadly, it doesn’t seem so. How else can you explain the following?
• In 1983, then-Democratic Rep. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts was caught in a similar situation. In his case, Studds had sex with a male teenage page — something Foley hasn’t been charged with.
Did Studds express contrition? Resign? Quite the contrary. He rejected Congress’ censure of him and continued to represent his district until his retirement in 1996.
• In 1989, Rep. Barney Frank, also of Massachusetts, admitted he’d lived with Steve Gobie, a male prostitute who ran a gay sex-for-hire ring out of Frank’s apartment. Frank, it was later discovered, used his position to fix 33 parking tickets for Gobie.
What happened to Frank? The House voted 408-18 to reprimand him — a slap on the wrist. Today he’s an honored Democratic member of Congress, much in demand as a speaker and “conscience of the party.”
• In 2001, President Clinton, who had his own intern problem, commuted the prison sentence of Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds, who had sex with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer and pressured her to lie about it. (Reynolds also was convicted of campaign spending violations.)
Political parties that reside in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Read the rest of the editorial.
Update: Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters links to a Washington Post article that actually acknowledges and details the double-standard between Democrats, who get away with their scandals, and Republicans, who pay serious consequences for theirs.
Hastert now calls the messages “vile” but the fact is that when the first signs of trouble surfaced he looked the other way… because it was politically inconvenient to investigate – he might not like what he found. It might cost Republicans votes, or a seat in the House.
What Foely did was against the law.
Hastert allowed it to continue.
Hastert should resign. Period.
Why in the world are you advertising on Democratic Underground?
The examples you cite brought avalanches of Democratic criticism and scolding…not a years-long coverup, which is what Foley got.
Agreed, Studds was a total sleaze. Reynolds, too.
Frank and Clinton were, frankly, saps played by predatory seducers.
So, Lee, your proof Hastert was connected to this so indeliably? And, say, the distinction other than policital stance that would allow the above noted predators in the Democrat party, and those who continue to shelter them after they were charged?
Lee should use his prefrontal cortex. Period.
How can you even compare the emails to the instant messages? Appropriate action was taken based on the content of the emails. Hastert has nothing to resign for….
It appears that no one in Republican leadership knew about the AOL IM’s until last week.
I just don’t see how you can read the content of the emails and state that something should have been done then. If something more would have been done then you would have had gay activists coming out and declaring a witch hunt. There just wasn’t that much in the emails to be concerned about. A warning was sufficient.
Clinton was a sap played by a predatory seducer??? WOW that is one of the funniest things I ever read. I think you mean, the intern he had an affair with was played by a predatory seducer- Slick Willie!
In any case, it’s a shame that this horrible situation has been turned into a political mud-slinging contest (though I’m not surprised.) It would be nice to see the Dems and Reps working together to FIX the issue rather than throwing insults and accusations.
Lee, of course, is just the sort of confirmed moonbat who doesn’t question Democrats who actually have sex with subordinates, even underaged ones, but is in high dudgeon over emails and IMs if a Republican sent them.
Liberal editors of the St. Petersburg and Miami newspapers had the same emails Hastert had, and found them not to be newsworthy. There was nothing to “investigate.” No sexual suggestiveness at all. Just a grown man being a bit creepy by carrying on a conversation with a teenager, who was no longer a page and whose parents told their congressman they didn’t want the matter pursued.
It was the IMs that are damning, and Hastert didn’t have those. But SOMEONE had them, saved them, and kept them secret, knowing all the while that they knew something which could put other young men at risk.
Yet, the risk to others, including that Foley might go beyond IMs, meant nothing to the Democratic operatives. They were only concerned about their timing to have the maximum effect.
The suspects are the former Democratic staffers of Rep. Alexander, who switched parties.
Emphyrio,
The examples you cite brought avalanches of Democratic criticism and scolding…
Demonstrate, please…
One important thing that’s going to come out of this Foley case (besides showing the hypocrisy of the Democrats once again) is that people are going to start thinking twice about gay men in positions of authority.
Gay men in the priesthood? The Catholic church is not allowing them any more after the scandals involving gay priests and young men.
Gay men in the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts went to the Supreme Court to defend their boys against gay scoutmasters. Smart Boy Scouts.
Gay men in the military? Don’t ask, don’t tell, and if you want to be overt, you’re gone. A smart move by our armed forces.
Gay men shouldn’t be in positions of authority over young men. Maybe if anything, Foley is going to allow us to say that in public, and loudly, once again.
Emphyrio,
I second Sheik: where are the avalanches?
Also, Clinton was played by a 20 something predator? What?!? Seriously. That’s better in your mind, than him being the predator? President of the USA, too weak willed/feeble minded/lead by his crotch to resist the charms of an intern… thank God she wasn’t a spy.
So Bonnie, should straight men coach a high school girl’s soccer or volleyball team?
Some people are just sick and can’t resist their urges, gay or straight. There’s is plenty of overwhelming examples for all of this on both sides of the aisle, and I find it funny that one party can wag their finger at the other when it is done everywhere.
Also, of course the Dems are going to use this for political gain. Duh! Does it make them more or less sleazy than Republicans who would do the same thing? Don’t tell me they wouldn’t either, it’s how politics are played. See a wound, rip it open, especially during election time. They both do it, and to deny it is well, being in denial.
Maybe you all want real examples, but you all seem capable of using the web to support your own side, so maybe i’ll just let it work itself out.
Republicans defending a pedophile – saying “others have broken the law too!”
Keep posting. Let every voter in the nation see what “Republican Traditional American Values” really means…
It’s sickening.
Lee,
The article has again shown how dishonest and despicable the Dems have become. If they knew this back in Nov and didn’t bring this to the attention of the authorities, it means that the Dems have been willing to risk the interests of children for their political timing.
These leftists are so predictable: no interest in national security or the welfare of children at all. Everything is for political power.
It’s sickening.
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The dems are truly sickening. They embraced and defended the predators among their midst until this day. Then they held back information that can protect other “children” (something that Lee claimed to care about) simply for political gain.
The more we know the more despicable the dems become.
Republicans defending a pedophile
By basically saying “the hell with him and anyone who acts like that?”
Not exactly defending, if you’re using the same language the rest of us do.
On the other hand, the Dems are defending their guys (who did much, much worse things) by, well, going after Republicans who didn’t have much of anything to do with the current case…
One thing the slime balls didn’t count on was that there will actually be a real FBI investigation, and they have became quite good at tracking electronic communications. Someone may win an election but be assured someone is going to jail. I vote that the person who held the IM’s for political purposes and Brian Ross (and maybe the wheels at ABC)share a cell with a hells angel by the name of Bubba.
Could this be what has driven the democrats to try and kill the NSA electronic tracking programs? The FBI and NSA have became quite good at their jobs and should find it quite easy to find out who had access ( and when) to the IM’s and EM’s.
Do we still have an excess of prison cells in the super max facilities? Looks like a lot of democrats are going to be in need of some taxpayer provided rental space.
Suhnami, open any newspaper and at least once a week you’ll see a molestation or rape story where a teacher (female or male) harms a student.
Yes, we need tighter controls on teachers. They’re liberal Democrats almost entirely and you can see the result in our public schools. Last year in Colorado alone there were 88 cases of teacher assaults on kids.
I wouldn’t want a young hetero male taking a group of young girls to a volleyball tournament just as I wouldn’t want a gay man taking my boys on a Scouting trip.
But then again, I have morals and values which is why I’m a Republican and not a Democrat.
Lee,
You ignorant douchebag. Pointing out the utter hypocrisy on the part of the Dims IS NOT THE SAME THING as ‘defending a pedophile’ as you put it.
NO ONE on the right is defending Foley. What we are doing is pointing out YOUR (and the Dims) hypocrisy when you scream SCANDAL!!! at the top of your lungs over this issue when the Dims have done NOTHING but scold their own people who commit acts as bad or worse than Foley.
I wonder what Lee is smoking?
Has anyone defended Foley at all in this thread? The only people who may are the ACLU and NAMBLA.
This is a case of hypocrisy- The Republicans with their “moral values” and the Democrats that pretend to get upset at Republicans, yet they do little to clean their own house.
Nothing new here really.
Watch this space for the other shoe to drop. It turns out the democrats knew about the ‘over friendly’ emails and maybe the really vile text messages for some time. If Hasstert should resign because he failed to act sufficiently on the ‘over friendly’ emails, what should happen to the democrats who failed to act until they could achieve maximum political gain. Or to put it another way, if the democrats knew about the really vile emails and held their silence about a potential child predator until they could achieve maximum gain, shouldn’t they do what they are calling on Hasstert to do?
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5907
One thing IBD didn’t point out was that Studds spirited his boy toy to Morocco for their little tryst, just so he wouldn’t run afoul of US laws against stautory rape. But he was re-elected anyway. Which tells you all you need to know about the moral standards of Massachusetts voters and Democrat politicians.
“Defending a pedophile,” Lee? No – just pointing out that your side has absolutely no high ground when it comes to pontificating about morality.
The Demoncrats have wasted no time, now hiring sleazy pressure groups like “American Family Voices” to put messages on my phone filled with lies about the Foley affair and blaming congressional Republicans for it.
Have they called your phone yet?
While we go tit for tat on this..
The real issue is the Bush/Republican Iraq failure
In the first 3 days of October THIRTEEN TROOPS KILLED
http://icasualties.org
I am not saying this House scandle won’t be an issue in the elections..but the Republicans will not go down..(except for maybe Foley’s seat) because of it..
They will go down because of the incredible..continuing Iraq debacle..There is no “winning” this…
Voters know Bush is “locked in” and realize that cutting(continued loss of troops)and leaving..not running is the only sane solution.
I dont know wether or not Foley is guilty of anything? But Slick willie sure was and as I remember it was just about sex..Right Lee
I think Lee’s overlooking the little matter of William Jefferson, the Dem congressman from LA whom Hastert defended against the Justice Dept when they were investigating Jefferson for having $100K in really cold cash. At the time, most people thought that was just plain politically stupid since a Dem was pretty obviously guilty of accepting a bribe.
Isn’t the initial investigation into Foley eerily similar, i.e., a representative deserves a certain amount of deference regardless of the charge??
Now that deference is ridiculous and shows a certain arrogance of power and privilege, but I think it’s pretty non-partisan.
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Republicans than:
We are the party of virtue and morality. We will bring family values back to Washington.
Republicans now:
We are just as bad as the Democrats, but reelect us anyways.
DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE DIMS CAN’T WIN ON DEFENSE
getting back to tit for tat…
this letter was sent to the FBI on July 21..
Forget Congress..why did not the FBI investigate?
http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/JulyMelanieEmailtoDOJ.pdf
BarneyG2.000,
You can repeat that till your fingers hurt, but that won’t make it true.
CREW did indeed have the emails back in July. And promptly turned them over to the FBI, kept quiet, and allowed them to (pretend to) do their job.
The e-mails were posted Friday on the Web site of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington after ABC News reported their existence. Naomi Seligman, a spokeswoman for CREW, said the group also sent a letter to the FBI after it received the e-mails. CREW did not post their copies of the e-mail until ABC News reported them, instead waiting for the investigation.
Of course, since they kept quiet pending the outcome of the FBI investigation, you all shout Democratic conspiracy, October surprise! But if they had released them immediately, you’d all be shouting Democratic conspiracy, unsubstantiated allegations, phony emails, Rathergate!
Let me ask you… if we stipulate that CREW had the emails in July, what should they have done?
By the way, when did the House leadership turn the emails over to the FBI?
Yes, 914 – Slick Willie’s sexual exploits are fair game for ridicule – as are Foley’s, and Hastert’s attmepted coverup.
You guys “dished it out” when Clinton’s Sh*t hit the fan – in fact – you guys were relentless – way over the top.
But look at the way the Republican’ts scream foul when political pressure is applied in their direction!
No wonder the Republicans are losing the War on Terror – you’re nothing but a bunch of pansies.
What Studds did was lewd but not illegal (age of consent is 16 in DC). What Foley did was illegal. He solicited a minor over the Internet, which is a Federal crime.
I would not classiffy Myself as a republican but I dont see how killing 1,000s of terrorists in Iraq that came from Iran a loss or failure?? Lee? Please quantify..
And nothing – NOTHING – that the Democrats have done compares to Foley’s gross malfeasance.
THIS WAS AN UNDERAGE CHILD ENTRUSTED TO THE CONGRESSIONAL PAGE PROGRAM. A FEDERALLY-SPONSORED PROGRAM THAT FOLEY USED TO PRACTICE PEDOPHILIA, UNDER THE PROTECTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF HASTERT!
My God people, how can Republicans stand by and allow that to happen?
Hastert did exactly that.
Lee,
You are without a doubt the most biased troll here. Everything to you is Reps bad, Dims good. No matter what is actually going on.
You are so unbalanced, I don’t see how you could possibly walk upright.
You need medication.
How does anyone know what was going on in Foley’s mind?? You got ESP or something? How do You know what Hastert knew and when He knew it? Does it matter? No..
The Page oversight board consists of three members (two Republicans and one Democrat). Back in 2005 the Republicans (on the board) were briefed on Foley’s email while Congressman Dale Kildee (the Democrat) was not
Sure does sound like a cover-up to me.
How does anyone know what was going on in Foley’s mind?
I’m not so concerned with what was in his mind, it’s what was in his instant messages and emails that’s the big issue…
Was He ( Foley ) aware that He was being NSA’d by the sex police!! Where are His defenders? Something is amiss here..Guilty before proved innocent.
Look guys, I have told you time and again that old “pucker Puss” (lee lee) is a asskissing, bootlicking, appeasing, nerdy hypocritical liberal that does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. (although if he would look in a mirror he could see it right below his nose) So the best way to deal with him is let him write his post but ignore him completly and maybe he will go back to his kos kiddies. (but then again I will miss making fun of the twit)
Amazing some commenters can’t think of ways to defend Hastert, so they attack me instead.
You guys “dished it out” when Clinton’s Sh*t hit the fan – in fact – you guys were relentless – way over the top.
Let’s do a real comparison:
Clinton: Dems kept saying we should leave him alone, and that the attacks and prosecution were only political ploys, and we should ignore the perjury he committed.
Foley: Republicans all want him out of office, and many have called for criminal prosecution (the rest haven’t said it yet, but it’s well into the 90%+ range for a full-court press). Dems want not only that, but everyone who might possibly have known about the messages to be out of office, too.
The difference? Dems are great at dishing it out, but lousy at admitting when someone did something really wrong. If Barney Frank had sent the messages this time, there’d be cries of harassment…
nogo postal , Thirteen soldiers killed protecting out freedom. How many ‘children’ have been killed in the United States by people suffering from BDS?
Killed in war vs killed by crazed democrsts.
Now get back to the subject at hand. When did the democrats get hold of the Foley IM’s and how many of the leadership are involved? The worst part is still to come and the democrats will suffer for their reckless endangerment of the young men by holding the IM’s until they thought they could use them for political purposes. Your stupid friend (Ross) at ABC will sell you out as soon as he see’s the handcuffs headed his way. Funny how wimps fold at the sight of a jail and those that go to jail find ‘Jesus’ the minute the door slams behind them.
And by the way, the scam poster using others identy on this site was identified as another NY slime ball. I wonder if my ‘group’ has a ride scheduled through his neighborhood this year. Harley riders go everywhere.
What Studds did was lewd but not illegal (age of consent is 16 in DC). What Foley did was illegal. He solicited a minor over the Internet, which is a Federal crime.
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Barney, we are not talking legality here. You are trying to excuse the Dems embracing and keeping a predator among their midst. Clinton pardoned Reynold, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison for having sex with an underage campaign worker.
At least you guys should be honest enought to admit that the Dems are in the toilet wrt this issue. If you truly care about the welfare of women and children, then you cannot vote for Dem by any objective standard. If you are intellectually honest enough to admit that the Dems don’t care about children or women abuse, then you can at least make the hypocrisy charge.
Otherwise, the dems are so despicable the more we learned about it.
Amazing some commenters can’t think of ways to defend Hastert, so they attack me instead.
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Another example of the dishonesty of the Democrats. Talking about defending a known liar like Clinton, who harassed women (and allegedly rape one) and pardoned a convicted child-sexual abuse (Reynold).
NOt only the dems did condemn Clinton, they made excuse for him and elected his wife to the Senate (using Lee ‘s standard).
Using your own standard, Lee, the dems are so despicable the more we learn about them.
Bonnie,
You said gays shouldn’t be in authoritative power over kids because of sexual abuse danger. I responded by saying that it happens all the time, regardless of sex, and orientation, and party affiliation. You responded by saying it happens all the time regardless of sex, and orientation. Then you made a sweeping claim saying Republicans have morals and Democrats don’t.
This is on a thread addressing a Republican who IM’d to a young man that he made him ‘a little horny’
Sexual Predators lurk in both parties, and are equally morally deprived. If anyone knew about this and didn’t come forward, Pub or Dem they should be punished, fair enough?
BarneyG2000 nailed it:
“The Page oversight board consists of three members (two Republicans and one Democrat). Back in 2005 the Republicans (on the board) were briefed on Foley’s email while Congressman Dale Kildee (the Democrat) was not”
“Sure does sound like a cover-up to me.”
Posted by: BarneyG2000 at October 3, 2006 02:16 PM
Absolutely right. The Democrat on the committee wasn’t informed because Hastert was in full-blown “cover-up” mode, trying to limit the political damage. That’s why he didn’t investigate further – he wanted this to die quietly.
Hastert should resign. He’s slime.
Sexual Predators lurk in both parties, and are equally morally deprived. If anyone knew about this and didn’t come forward, Pub or Dem they should be punished, fair enough?
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perfectly fair. The facts show that the Dems don’t punish their predators. In fact, they embraced them and kept them in their midst. That ‘s the problem. Anyone who claims to care about sexual abuse of children and women simply cannot support the Dems based on what they have done so far.
Very simple…If you want we can go back in time and say this was wrong and this was wrong…
But…just for the heck of it…how about here and now…
Yeah..I know it is hard for folks to live in the here and now..but let’s try…
In the here and now…
After all our President and your Party and some Dems keep saying…yeah mistakes were made in Iraq but we have to deal with now..
We can always find comparisons to fit our individual agendas…
But…just for a moment…we don’t make comparisons..just for a moment we deal simply with what has taken place since Friday?
Is it reasonable to assume if anybody in Congress was exposed the way Foley was exposed that the opposition Party and therefore the media wouldn’t be all over it?
Hell the Late shows still do Clinton sex jokes 8 years later…
Both sides cry hypocracy…
That is why to me..this is fluff..it is not exposure of the “dark side of Republicans”
Anymore than Clinton was the “dark side of Democrats”
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by the way …troops killed are the children of someone…we are at over 2700 of them killed..
Please don’t write how Republicans care about the children of our nation……